(AJI/IFEX) – The following is an 11 August 2006 AJI press release: In conjunction with the 12th anniversary of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), the advocacy division of AJI Indonesia announced the rate of violence against journalists in 2006, the provinces/cities with the highest rates of violence, and the 2006 “Enemies of Press Freedom”. […]
(AJI/IFEX) – The following is an 11 August 2006 AJI press release:
In conjunction with the 12th anniversary of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), the advocacy division of AJI Indonesia announced the rate of violence against journalists in 2006, the provinces/cities with the highest rates of violence, and the 2006 “Enemies of Press Freedom”.
During the period of August 2005 – August 2006, AJI Indonesia recorded 64 cases of violence against the press and journalists, occurring from the province of Aceh to that of Papua. The most dangerous provinces/city for journalists/press were Jakarta (13 cases of violence), East Java (8 cases), and Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (8 cases).
The winners of the title 2006 “Enemies of Press Freedom” are mobs and thugs, who committed 23 cases of violence. The second-place position for top perpetrators of violence goes to government figures (district heads, regents, governors, ministerial staffs, etc.), who were responsible for 14 cases. Policemen placed third with eight cases.
The AJI urges the Indonesian community and government to respect the journalistic profession, as stipulated by the 1945 Constitution and Press Law Number 40, Year 1999.
AJI condemns all kinds of violence – both physical and non-physical – against journalists, whether or not related to questions of ethnicity, grouping or religion. AJI calls on all parties to exercise their rights to contest media assertions and to request corrections, to file complaints with the Press Council or with existing journalists’ organizations, or to undertake legal processes without criminalizing the profession of journalism.
Jakarta, August 11, 2006
Coordinator of the Advocacy Division, Eko Maryadi
